Initial Setup:

First let us say that you do all of this at your own risk, this can be dangerous to you personally and your property. Think about what you are doing and be careful! If in doubt hire a licensed electrician.

Unfortunately the installation of these switches is not as straight forward as replacing a standard switch. While installing a single switch is still quite easy, if you are not technically inclined and comfortable using a multimeter this might not be for you. The instructions say that after you kill the power you simply move the leads from your old switch to this switch, load to load, line to line etc. The problem is it you can’t always count on things being wired correctly and if you are doing this work you should verify the connections. In my case I pulled the switch out so I could access the terminals, then energized the circuit again to determine which black wire was hot and which was the load. Obviously this is the dangerous part since the power is exposed. After this you kill the power and start to install your new Z-Wave switch. One other change from a standard switch is the use of the neutral wire. Normally all the neutrals are just tied together in the box. In this installation you need to use the included jumper to connect the neutral terminal of the switch to that bundle. Don’t forget to connect the switch to a good ground. Once this is done you simply close up the box, restore power and pair this device with your hub.

In this case I will be pairing the devices to an Iris by Lowe’s hub so the screen shots below are from that application but the process is likely very similar in other apps. In this app the pairing process is quite easy, you select the “+” on the dashboard, select “Device”,” GE” then the device you are connecting. From there the app will walk you through and ultimately pair with the device. Then you can customize the name and add pictures to make things more intuitive.





Performance:

Much of the performance of these Z-Wave devices will come down to things outside their control. First you have you hub, if the hub is slow or has a weak Z-Wave radio this will adversely affect the switch performance. Also, some homes have metal gang boxes. Since these can interfere with the Z-Wave transmission you could end up with frequent disconnects. Because of this I have replaced all gang boxes with plastic when I install these smart switches/dimmers. But assuming your system doesn’t adversely affect the signal you will find the control to be quite good. Through the app the switches respond very quickly to on/off commands but the off command fades the light out rather than opening the switch directly. I did find dimming control would sometimes lag a little. Not to the point you are left wondering if it is working but enough that you may need to readjust your setting. I would say on average there is a second or two delay. Speaking of the dimming, you need to make sure all of your bulbs are dimmable. I installed a dimmer on outside lights because my wife wanted a light to be on all night but as an accent light. While most of the bulbs were dimmable the spot light over the garage was not and made it look like we were having a rave or something as it continuously strobed. The range seems acceptable though I highly doubt anyone would achieve the 100 foot range they claim. I am sure this is best case, line of sight no obstruction range. I think anything over 40 feet may start to be problematic in the real world. But the good thing is these operate on a mesh network, so one switch close to the hub can pass the signal along to one which would be too far on its own.

Functionality will depend on the hub being used and the level of service you have but typically scheduling is a standard feature. But you can also set rules to turn lights on when you arrive home or if a motion sensor detects someone is present.

And of course you can still control these like ordinary switches; the only difference is they do not latch into position. So to turn it on you tap the top, if you want to turn it off you tap the bottom. Dimming is controlled by pressing and holding the top or bottom to increase lighting or decrease respectively.

Conclusion:

These switches can be found for just over $40 at places like Newegg Business. While this is quite a bit more expensive than a standard switch it can do a lot more. If you already have a compatible hub and want to automate your lights there is no reason not to purchase this smart dimmer switch, it simply works. I really like that they blend right in and don’t look out of place or make it look like this automation was an afterthought. You can even take a modular approach to this and add a few circuits as time goes by, the more you add the stronger your Z-Wave mesh network will be. The only real issue with this device is if you feel comfortable doing the install yourself. This isn’t like replacing a standard switch; you can’t just move the wires from terminal to terminal. I realize they were designed this way to minimize the need to have 2, 3 and 4-way switches but the change in wiring may be intimidating for some. If you do find yourself overwhelmed you could get a licensed electrician who could install several of these for you relatively fast and cheap.



In the end, the GE 12724 Z-Wave in wall Smart dimmer switch earns the Bigbruin.com "Highly Recommended" award.



Pros:

» Blends in, doesn’t look like an afterthought
» Fast control from anywhere
» Stability, no disconnects
» Can be configured for multiple colors
» Well built with a 2 year warranty.

Cons:

» Instructions are not as clear as they could be.
» Install could be intimidating for some.
» Metal gang boxes can affect signal strength
» Some older construction utilizes shallow boxes which make installation tough to impossible.

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